


The Next Step

by captainraz



Series: Discretion [3]
Category: The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
Genre: Coming Out, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-29
Updated: 2016-03-29
Packaged: 2018-05-29 22:50:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6397135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captainraz/pseuds/captainraz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Andy talks to Miranda about going public.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Next Step

By the time Andy got home that night she was more tired than she ever remembered being in her life. Story leads had had her running around the city all day, which was less than ideal on the amount of sleep she’d had lately. And as much as she wanted to curl up on the sofa and sleep she knew that when she got in she’d have to put on her chipper face for Cassidy. For her daughter.

She’d never really anticipated having children and could never regret her decision to parent the twins but God it would be easier to deal with just a few more hours sleep. She prayed to any deity that might be listening that both girls would recover soon and she could go back to getting enough sleep to concentrate. She added an extra request that this would happen without Miranda getting sick too because as much as she loved the woman she was absolute hell on legs when she wasn’t well.

The overwhelming fatigue meant that Andy was quiet during dinner. She managed to respond to questions appropriately but otherwise staying out of the conversation, preoccupied with reliving the conversation with her editor, and too tired to do more than one thing at once. She wondered what would come next.

“Andrea, darling, are you alright?” Miranda asked eventually, concern clear in her voice.

“Yeah, you don’t look so great Andy,” Caroline added, voice still hoarse from days of coughing. “Are you getting sick too?”

Andy shook her head. “I’m fine kiddo. Just tired. Thinking about work stuff.”

Caroline rolled her eyes. “You’re almost as bad as Mom,” she said, though there was no venom in the accusation.

The concerned look remained on Miranda’s face however, and Andy felt guilty for being the one to put it there. After dinner Caroline and Cassidy went upstairs to watch something on TV (they weren’t quite back to their usual homework routine) which gave Miranda the chance to corner Andy. Which Andy had been expecting.

“Would you like to tell me what’s bothering you?” Miranda said, resting one hip against the kitchen counter. She was getting better at this communication thing; Andy actually heard the question mark at the end of that sentence.

Andy shrugged. “Still weird about talking to Greg,” she said, letting her partner know what was wrong without actually explaining anything.

Miranda’s brow creased slightly. “Are you regretting telling him about us?”

“No, that’s fine. It was surprisingly easy, actually.” Andy sighed and ruffled her bangs. “It got me thinking is all, about coming out properly. You know, publicly.” That raised a few eyebrows, but Miranda said nothing. “I mean, it’s been almost two years. Don’t you think it’s time?”

In truth Andy was less concerned about actually coming out publicly as she was about Miranda’s reaction to the idea. The press would be a nuisance no matter what, which was one of the reasons Miranda had wanted to be discreet in the first place. That and she wanted to protect Andy.

Miranda blew out a breath very slowly. “You really feel you’re ready?”

“I do.”

“It will be a circus.”

“You’re worth it.” Andy pointed at the ceiling. “They’re worth it.”

Miranda smiled, one of the rare smiles that took over her entire face and made her look radiant. Even now seeing this smile took Andy’s breath away. “You really mean it.”

“I do.” Andy stepped closer and took Miranda’s hands in her own. Lifting them to her lips she pressed a delicate kiss to each knuckle. “I love you, and I love those girls. I don’t plan on going anywhere, ever, and I certainly don’t intend to let Page 6 push me away. You’re stuck with me lady.”

“If I’d have known I’d end up having to put with you and your appalling lack of fashion sense permanently I’d have thrown you and that awful outfit out of the building the moment you walked into my office.” The remark was as cutting as anything Andy had received when she’d been Miranda’s assistant but she’d learned to look for the slight crease around her eyes and the twitch of her lips that meant Miranda was kidding.

“Your life would be a lot less interesting without me and my fashion sense.”

“Yes it would.” Miranda pressed a gentle kiss to Andy’s lips. “If you’re ready we’ll do it. We’ll go public. It’s better to do this on our terms than wait to be outed against our wishes. I’ll talk to Leslie tomorrow so we can start putting together a plan.”

“You will?”

“Mmmm,” Miranda said. “I have one condition though.”

“Uh huh.” Andy braced herself for impact.

“You need to talk to your parents first. They deserve to hear it from you rather than the media.”

Andy sighed and got a pointed look in return. “I know, I know. You’re right. I just… all this time and I’m still not looking forward to having that particular conversation with them.”

“I know. It’s not something I’ve particularly looked forward to either.”

“They’ll want to meet you. And the girls. When they’ve stopped being mad at me.”

Miranda rolled her eyes. “I shall be on my best behaviour, I assure you.”

Andy pulled Miranda close and just held her for a moment. With the chaos of two sick children over the last few days this was the longest period of time they’d had for just the two of them in too long and Andy intended to enjoy it. Eventually, reluctantly, she had to pull away.

“I suppose there’s no time like the present,” Andy said, trying to sound positive.

Miranda kissed her on the cheek. “Good luck darling. I’ll be in my office if you need me.”

***

When Andy emerged from the bedroom an hour later she felt like she’d been run over. A quick glance in one of the mirrors in the hallway told her she looked like it as well; her face was pale and drawn and her hands were visibly trembling. All in all she looked like she felt; like shit.

Miranda looked up from the Book as soon and Andy slipped in to her office. She pulled her glasses off, brow furrowing with clear concern. “I take it things didn’t go well?”

Andy shook her head. “I’m pretty sure they haven’t been this mad at me since they caught me breaking back into my room at 3 am after sneaking out to a party in high school.” She sighed and sat down on the comfy couch that Miranda kept in her office. “They are mad, and I mean seriously mad, that I’ve been in a relationship this long without telling them.”

“Yes well, I can’t say I entirely blame them for that,” said Miranda, handing Andy a glass of wine. Andy accepted it gratefully and took a long drink.

“I said I didn’t think there would a good time to tell my parents about my relationship with my divorced mother of two former boss who they hate. And having done it now, I was absolutely correct.” Andy took another sip of wine and collapsed into the couch.

Miranda sat down next to her and placed a hand on Andy’s knee. “Do you think they’ll come round? Will they be okay?”

“It’ll take them a while but they’ll be fine.” Andy grinned. “And if they take too long I’ll play the instant grandkids card. Even if they don’t ever entirely approve of us they’re gonna love Caroline and Cassidy.” She pulled a face. “They’re gonna want to spoil the girls rotten.”

“You’ve done a fairly good job of preventing their paternal grandparents from spoiling them too much. I suppose you’ll just have to take it upon yourself to ensure your parents don’t undo all that hard work.”

Andy scowled. “When did I become the bad guy?”

Miranda pressed a kiss to the top of her partner’s head. “When you told my ex-mother-in-law in no uncertain terms that she could not, under any circumstances, buy the girls a kitten each for Christmas because it was, and I quote, ‘not responsible of them to give living creatures as gifts and expect pre-teens to live with the consequences of that.’ You brought this on yourself and now you have to live with the consequences.” Miranda was smirking with every word she said, not that it showed in her tone of voice.

Andy huffed sulkily. “Well it wasn’t responsible of them,” she muttered under her breath. “We’d have ended up doing everything for the kittens when the novelty had work off and you know it. You just weren’t willing to be the one to say no.”

“That’s what I have you for darling,” Miranda said, patting Andy’s thigh with an annoyingly smug smirk on her face. Andy sighed; it wasn’t worth arguing with Miranda when she got like this. It never was.

Not that stopped Andy from trying. She was nothing if not a glutton for punishment.

“So, what do we do now?” she asked, not-so-subtly changing the subject entirely. “About the whole ‘coming out publicly’ thing?”

“We should go talk to the girls, make sure they’re aware of our plans. They’ve been asking me for a while when we were planning to come out so I imagine they’ll be supportive.”

“They have? Why didn’t you tell me?” Andy was more than a little hurt that Miranda had kept this from her. She didn’t mind so much that the girls hadn’t said anything to her about it; there were still some things they preferred to go to their Mom about. Which was fine because there were some things they talked to Andy about that they didn’t want to say to Miranda. It evened out in the end.

“I was waiting for you darling,” said Miranda softly. “You’re the one who hasn’t experienced the dubious pleasure of press scrutiny before. I will weather whatever they throw at me as I always have and as much as it pains me, the girls are seasoned veterans of dealing with the paparazzi, even at their tender age. I had to be sure that you were ready, and this is the first time you’ve mentioned going public.”

Andy grumbled at that but Miranda was right; up until now she’d been more than happy to keep doing this discretion thing. If Caroline hadn’t gotten sick and forced Andy to take a day off she would probably have been happy keeping her family under wraps a little longer. But the ease with which she’d told Greg the truth had gotten her thinking and, one very uncomfortable conversation with her parents later, here they were.

“I suppose you’re right,” Andy said. “As per bloody usual.”

This time it was Miranda’s turn to sigh. “Really Andrea, your language is awful. You’ve been spending too much time with Emily.” The tone of Miranda’s voice was every inch the Ice Queen but the small smirk in the corner of her mouth proved she was amused rather than offended.

Andy grinned. “She’s the only friend I have that understand what I go through having to put up with you. Let me finish my wine and we’ll go talk to the girls.”

As predicted, both Caroline and Cassidy were perfectly okay with the storm of media attention that would shortly be descending upon their household. They said as much, in that way all almost-adolescents had, by asking why they hadn’t done this earlier and commenting that ‘grown ups could be really stupid sometimes.’ Miranda was just about to scold Caroline for saying such things when she completely blind sided them both by asking whether this meant they could tell their friends Andy was their stepmom. It took every ounce of self control Andy had not to cry at that and, judging by the look on Miranda’s face, her partner was in the same boat.

“Of course you can Caro,” Andy choked out. “Of course you can.”

Later, as they were getting into bed, Andy reflected on what had turned out to be a surprisingly emotionally trying day. She said as much to Miranda and was surprised when a small flash of concern and insecurity passed over the older woman’s face.

“You’re sure this is what you want Andrea?”

“I’ve never been surer of anything in my life,” she said, completely sincere. “I’m ready for the press, for the inevitable teasing from my co-workers, the lot. My parents will come round eventually and even if they don’t I have no regrets. This is where I belong; this is home and you three are my family.”

For a minute or two it looked like Miranda might actually cry but then she got herself under control. Her only acknowledgement of what Andy had just said was a small nod of agreement. “I’ll phone Leslie in the morning,” she said, as though that were the most appropriate response to Andy’s emotionally charged declaration.

Andy just beamed at her. “First Leslie, then the world.”


End file.
